Last Modified: Thursday, August 21, 2014 at 12:39 p.m.

Joshua K. Delong

Joshua Keith Delong was booked into the Marion County Jail at 6:55 a.m. Thursday. He was being held in lieu of $6,000 bond. Delong declined to be interviewed by the Star-Banner.

When Officer Arnaldo Colon arrived at Dr. B’s, 3602 NE Eighth Place, Ocala, Delong was lying unconscious on the ground in the parking lot bleeding from a head wound, according to an Ocala Police Department report.

Delong was taken by ambulance to Ocala Regional Medical Center. At the hospital, Colon interviewed Delong, who told the officer he had dinner with his children, ages 5, 7 and 8, and his mother, at Terry’s restaurant around 8 p.m. Wednesday. He said that after dinner he left the children with his mother and went to the bar.

At the bar, Delong said, he drank three beers. While there, a group of men approached and began yelling at him, the report states. He said the men accused him of leaving his children unattended in his car. The men dragged Delong outside and some of them hit him, he said.

He denied having his children with him and told the officer his wife had dropped them off at the bar and put them in his car, according to the report. The officer spoke to Delong’s wife, who denied leaving the children in his car. She said Delong has had custody of the children for the last five days.

Before interviewing Delong, the officer spoke with a woman who had seen Delong’s children inside a four-door gold Cadillac in the bar parking lot, the report states. The woman said the kids were honking the horn and calling for their daddy.

The woman said she walked into the bar and asked patrons who owned a car that had children in it. When Delong was located, the woman said, she returned outside and stayed with the children.

The witness told police the kids told her they had eaten dinner earlier with their father and grandmother, according to the OPD report. They told her that afterward their father drove them to the bar and left them in the car. The children said Delong had left them there “for a long time and he does it a lot,” according to the officer’s report.

Colon talked with the children, who said that after dinner they wanted to “stay with daddy” and asked their grandmother if they could go home with him. One of the children said Delong drove to the bar and left them in the car with the windows up and the keys in the ignition. The child said Delong told them to stay in the car and that he was going inside to meet a friend.

After four hours, one of the children said, they were concerned about their father and began honking the horn, screaming for him.

The officer contacted Delong’s mother. She told him they had dinner around 8 p.m. and Delong and the children left at about 9 p.m.

The bar’s security team told the officer they saw the children, who told them their father was inside. A member of the security team said he found Delong inside and that Delong walked out of the bar with him. Delong told him the children in the car were his.

Delong, he said, tried to drive away. Thinking he might be intoxicated, the security team member said he tried talking to Delong. The man said he then called police. There was a fight, the man said, and Delong was hit by an angry patron.

Court documents dating back to 2004 show Delong has been convicted of multiple offenses, including drug possession, careless burning of land and petit theft. In April, he was taken for evaluation under Florida’s Baker Act and the following month had to serve community service for leaving the scene of a crash with property damage.

<p>Police say a 28-year-old Ocala man who left his three young children in his car for several hours while he went drinking inside a bar has been arrested on three counts of child neglect.</p><p>Joshua Keith Delong was booked into the Marion County Jail at 6:55 a.m. Thursday. He was being held in lieu of $6,000 bond. Delong declined to be interviewed by the Star-Banner.</p><p>When Officer Arnaldo Colon arrived at Dr. B's, 3602 NE Eighth Place, Ocala, Delong was lying unconscious on the ground in the parking lot bleeding from a head wound, according to an Ocala Police Department report.</p><p>Delong was taken by ambulance to Ocala Regional Medical Center. At the hospital, Colon interviewed Delong, who told the officer he had dinner with his children, ages 5, 7 and 8, and his mother, at Terry's restaurant around 8 p.m. Wednesday. He said that after dinner he left the children with his mother and went to the bar.</p><p>At the bar, Delong said, he drank three beers. While there, a group of men approached and began yelling at him, the report states. He said the men accused him of leaving his children unattended in his car. The men dragged Delong outside and some of them hit him, he said.</p><p>He denied having his children with him and told the officer his wife had dropped them off at the bar and put them in his car, according to the report. The officer spoke to Delong's wife, who denied leaving the children in his car. She said Delong has had custody of the children for the last five days.</p><p>Before interviewing Delong, the officer spoke with a woman who had seen Delong's children inside a four-door gold Cadillac in the bar parking lot, the report states. The woman said the kids were honking the horn and calling for their daddy.</p><p>The woman said she walked into the bar and asked patrons who owned a car that had children in it. When Delong was located, the woman said, she returned outside and stayed with the children.</p><p>The witness told police the kids told her they had eaten dinner earlier with their father and grandmother, according to the OPD report. They told her that afterward their father drove them to the bar and left them in the car. The children said Delong had left them there “for a long time and he does it a lot,” according to the officer's report. </p><p>Colon talked with the children, who said that after dinner they wanted to “stay with daddy” and asked their grandmother if they could go home with him. One of the children said Delong drove to the bar and left them in the car with the windows up and the keys in the ignition. The child said Delong told them to stay in the car and that he was going inside to meet a friend.</p><p>After four hours, one of the children said, they were concerned about their father and began honking the horn, screaming for him.</p><p>The officer contacted Delong's mother. She told him they had dinner around 8 p.m. and Delong and the children left at about 9 p.m.</p><p>The bar's security team told the officer they saw the children, who told them their father was inside. A member of the security team said he found Delong inside and that Delong walked out of the bar with him. Delong told him the children in the car were his.</p><p>Delong, he said, tried to drive away. Thinking he might be intoxicated, the security team member said he tried talking to Delong. The man said he then called police. There was a fight, the man said, and Delong was hit by an angry patron.</p><p>Court documents dating back to 2004 show Delong has been convicted of multiple offenses, including drug possession, careless burning of land and petit theft. In April, he was taken for evaluation under Florida's Baker Act and the following month had to serve community service for leaving the scene of a crash with property damage.</p><p><i>Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118 or austin.miller@starbanner.com.</i></p>